Navigating a new author is both an exciting and frightening situation for readers. Exciting because they get exposed to an entire new backlist of reading choices. Frightening because even when the books come from the library (pre-paid), people don't want to waste what little free time they have to read on something they end up NOT enjoying.
This is why those of us in RA Service work so hard to provide start with titles for authors. But when an author has a lot of books, where to start is not as easy as giving people one book.
For example, with Stephen Graham Jones I used to always say new readers to SGJ should start with The Only Good Indians; however, that was when new readers were coming to him from Horror only. With the mainstream success of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, I have had to pivot on how I suggest a SGJ start with title, and instead of automatically offering TOGI, I instead start to ask question such as: How familiar are you with horror? I often start people with I Was A Teenaged Slasher if they are new to the genre completely.
"Start with" titles matter. The right first book for that specific reader could make our break their experience, and we are uniquely situated to help start them on a journey toward a new favorite author.
BUT, we cannot possibly know how to introduce readers to every single author. That is why we need to use resources! (Rule #7 in my 10 Rules of Basic RA Service). And thankfully, one of my top 5 resources in general, Book Riot, has an entire series that does this new author navigation work for us. It is called Reading Pathways and you can access all of them here.
Recently, they had a perfect example of why we need their help as they published this Reading Pathway for Daniel Kraus.
Daniel is not only prolific, but he also writes for all ages of readers and across genres. With his Pulitzer Prize for Angel Down this past April and Whalefall (the movie) opening nationwide today, new readers will be finding him in high numbers. But Book Riot has us all covered.
And this article on Kraus is written by Kelly Jensen, who knows his work as a YA and Horror expert. This matters. As you look at the entire series, the articles are written by someone who is well versed in that author and who has been paid to take the time to research and present the reading pathway to potential readers. Like all Book Riot articles, these are written in a conversational but knowledgeable style. They are also edited and vetted.
We do not have the people power, time, or editors to get this type of authoritative resource out for the number of authors we could use it for. However, Book Riot is a trusted RA source and we should use it.
Set up a section of your resources page on your website to link to these articles. Give Book Riot the credit for the work, and send your readers there for more information. You will look brilliant to them.
Remember, your patrons don't need to personally provide the answer to every question they have; rather, they need you to point them to the best authoritative resource that can give them the answers they seek.
So as you get those questions about Kraus this weekend, check out the Book Riot's Reading Pathways article on him. Then spend some time looking through the other authors for which they have an article and figure out the best way to get that information to your patrons for when they need it (now or sometime in the future).
